How the Mets used AI to call pitches, according to former reliever Adam Ottavino

Adam Ottavino recently revealed that the New York Mets were secretly using an artificial intelligence program to help select their pitches during games. The veteran reliever shared that the organization leaned on advanced algorithms to shape their on field strategic decisions.

Ottavino explained that the Mets became the primary franchise targeted by Major League Baseball once regulators learned about the setup. According to details reported by The Athletic, teams were using league-issued dugout iPads to run custom generative AI tools.

The league uncovered that nearly a third of MLB teams were pushing technology guidelines by utilizing custom apps in dugouts. Front offices were feeding live game data into these models to instantly update their approach against opposing hitters.

MLB clamps down on dugout AI

Major League Baseball halted the practice mid-season by issuing a league-wide memo banning custom software, according to The Athletic. The commissioner’s office strictly prohibited any generative tools that offered live-updating recommendations for pitch-calling or substitutions. Moving forward, franchises are restricted to uploading static, pre-game analytical data subject to full league review.

Clubs will struggle to bypass these new restrictions because dugout iPads remain locked down and strictly monitored by league software. Non-field personnel are forbidden from entering dugouts during games, preventing external staff from feeding live inputs into tablets. Unless rules are loosened in the future, teams cannot legally use generative AI for real-time strategic calls.

Despite all the controversy surrounding the tech, relying on algorithmic pitch selection didn’t actually help the Mets very much. The team still endured plenty of pitching struggles, proving that digital suggestions couldn’t magically fix execution on the mound.